Biography
Jeffrey David Klein was born in the Morris Park section of the Bronx on July 10, 1960. A lifelong resident of the northeast Bronx, he was educated in Bronx public schools. Klein received a B.A. with honors from Queens College, an M.P.A. from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs, and a J.D. from the City University of New York Law School where he was a member of the law review.A former chief of staff to Congressman James Scheuer, Klein served as a Democratic State Committeeman and District Leader before being elected to the New York State Assembly in 1994. During his ten years representing the 80th Assembly District in the state legislature, Jeff Klein served as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Crime and the Elderly, the Committee on State-Federal Relations, and the Committee on Oversight, Analysis and Investigations. In November 2004, Senator Klein was elected to represent the 34th Senatorial District covering parts of northern Bronx County and southern Westchester County.Active in many community organizations, Jeff Klein is a member of the New York regional board of the Anti-Defamation League. Klein is also a partner in the law firm of Klein Calderoni & Santucci, LLP.Called “smart and hard-working” by the New York Times and an “energetic legislator” by the New York Sun, Jeff Klein has authored numerous laws that directly impact the citizens of New York, including measures to protect the thousands of senior citizens and working families who live in Mitchell-Lama housing. He also passed legislation protecting homeowners against blockbusting real estate solicitations and creating New York's Do Not Call telemarketing registry, which has enrolled almost two million residential telephone customers since its April 2001 inception.Senator Klein has been a leader in the effort to reform New York’s sexual assault laws. He sponsors legislation to remove the statute of limitations on rape and has been an active proponent of civil confinement for the most dangerous sex offenders.Klein's efforts on behalf of consumers have included annual monitoring of unsanitary conditions in New York City and Westchester County supermarkets and restaurants (the Enough to Make You Sick series) and authoring legislation requiring supermarkets to post their state inspection results. He also uncovered the wide disparities in prescription drug prices between different branches of chain drug stores in New York City (Filled Prescriptions, Empty Pockets) and help build support for computerized retail drug price lists and an internet database of prescription drug prices.As Chair of the Assembly Committee on Oversight, Analysis and Investigation, Jeff Klein focused national attention on security conditions at New York City water facilities and passed tough legislation requiring water supply facilities to update their emergency plans to address the threat of terrorism. He has also worked to reduce government waste by demanding a detailed accounting of state computer systems and information technology spending.Jeff Klein has passed important legislation reducing children's access to cigarettes and saved New York taxpayers millions of dollars by targeting cigarette smugglers and online smoke shops that, as detailed in his Up In Smoke report, evade lawful city and state cigarette taxes and fail to take the necessary precautions to prevent sales to minors. In 2000, he authored the first law in the nation banning the direct shipment of cigarettes to New York consumers, starting what has become a national movement with credit card issuers refusing to process charges for online cigarette sales and commercial shippers pledging to stop consumer cigarette deliveries nationwide.Senator Klein has led the fight against childhood asthma, which afflicts one out of every six Bronx children. To help reduce skyrocketing hospitalization rates, he started a mobile asthma screening and testing program, the first of its kind in New York State, which travels to school and community events with a fully-equipped medical van bringing desperately needed on-site asthma screening and education directly to children and their families. Klein also helped launch an innovative child abuse treatment program at St. Barnabas Hospital that uses state-of-the-art equipment and coordinated case management among health care professionals, social services agencies and law enforcement to deliver comprehensive care while minimizing the trauma caused by multiple examinations and interviews.Senator Klein sponsors a variety of programs throughout the 34th Senate District, including a graffiti removal program, street cleaning programs, gardening classes at the New York Botanical Gardens, and annual Senior Appreciation Days at the Westchester Broadway TheatreStanding Committee Assignments 2008: